Ferdinand Rani
SHILLONG:
It’s another market day at Langpih in Rambrai constituency of West Khasi Hills district. Tribals and non-tribals alike from across the region set up their stalls in the marketplace, as customers come in from Langpih and the adjoining villages.
A memorial stone erected in memory of the four victims of the 2010 clash between the local residents and Assam Police greets visitors to the market.
Langpih is one of the areas of difference between Assam and Meghalaya, where skirmishes have taken place from time to time. However, in the last two years, there have been some changes, according to the residents here.
“We live at peace now with the Nepalis in the village,” said Hindro Samakha, sordar of the erstwhile Raid Mynsaw. He informed that there are 24 Khasi villages in the Langpih sector, mostly located beyond Langpih. The village has two segments: Langpih with 60 households is dominated by the Khasis while Lumpee has a majority of Nepalis. The two are separated by a small stream with Assam Police personnel stationed in the Lumpee side and Meghalaya Police on the other side at a short distance from the market.
The residents informed that it was they who had constructed the camp for the Meghalaya Police personnel after the 2010 incident. “Just after the incident the then Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh came to visit us and we didn’t let him go until he gave his word to station police here which he did,” one of the residents said.
The political scene
In the past, residents from both communities shared a common marketplace for trade and commerce. Now though, there are two, at Lumpee and Langpih, necessitated by the Covid-19 lockdown.
Speaking to The Meghalayan, a shopkeeper said, “There’s nothing between us to hate or be against each other, we live at peace and do business as usual.” However, she added that the boundary issue has been pending for so long and needs to be resolved at the earliest. “We want our village to be free of jealousy and hatred,” one of the shopkeepers added. Election candidates have kept making promises for the past 50 years.
“What can we say, those promises were nothing but empty words,” the shopkeeper said. An elderly shopkeeper in the market who was also one of the Hill State Movement volunteers said, “We fought for Meghalaya since those days but our dreams are not fulfilled even after 50 years.”
While speaking to people at a meeting the Congress party is under way in the background hitting on the MLA of the constituency Kimfa Marbaniang for leaving the party and joining the National People’s Party (NPP) which he was against.
A young man attending the meeting said, “I will still vote for the NPP because it has taken steps no other government took in the past to fix the boundary issue of these two states.” He added that Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong gave the assurance to the residents that the matter here will be solved with the NPP in power.
“I’ve voted for the HSPDP for 35 years but before the flower could bloom it died away. Then I voted for Congress and they said it’s corrupt and now I will vote for this party because this man is doing something for us,” a senior citizen stated.
A few others feel that if HSPDP’s president KPPangiang comes it would be helpful since he is from the neighbouring village of Langja adjacent to Langpih which makes him more knowledgeable about the boundary issue. Another said, “He (KP Pangiang) was the one who pushed to include Langpih as one of the areas of differences for the state government to solve.”
The other side
On the other side of the village, an area dominated mostly by the Nepali community according to the residents, the place at the centre is the reason why ending the boundary issue gets complicated. “There are plenty of Khasis living beyond the area (Lumpee) in villages like Umdiengsnam, Umyiap and others,” a resident said.
Speaking to Om Prakash Sirish, fondly known as ‘Babu Dkhar’ a senior citizen residing on this side of the village (Lumpee), he informed that for as long as he could remember the place falls under Kamrup district of Assam “We’ve been here for ages and all our documents belong to Assam”, he said. According to him, the Assam government has been providing all the schemes for the public but the Khasi community living here stopped receiving them for wanting to be with Meghalaya.
“The mistake was that both states gave residential documents to the people. This is why it makes it difficult for the two governments to resolve the boundary issue now,” Sirish said.
He also stated that the community of seven villages in the area wants to be with Assam because there will be no place for them in Meghalaya. “We’ve thought about going with Meghalaya but you see we are Gorkhali, the autonomous council in Meghalaya will not recognise us, and this will be a problem for our community,” he added.
It may be mentioned that the chief ministers of the two states made a joint visit to Langpih in November 2022 with an aim to settle the interstate boundary issue. As per the arrangements, the Langpih sector will be taken up Phase 2 of the border talks which haven’t taken place yet. As for the residents of both these sides of the village, they are at peace with one another with the hope that one day their goals and aspirations will be heard by a government responsible enough to take the step. The big question is which government will be able to do it and in doing so, whether the rights and identity of the people residing on both sides will be preserved.